Now is the time so many people feel the necessity to make New Years resolutions. Somewhere between one and six weeks into the new year most of these resolutions are broken. Why is this? I would like to propose a few thoughts for your consideration.
Let’s start with the timing. If some sort of change were really necessary and it was desired strongly enough, why wait until the beginning of a new year. If, for some reason, your doctor tells you to cut boiled artichokes from your diet, those who value our health would cut them out immediately, not wait until the end of the year.
Next we can look at the content of most resolutions. Most tend to revolve around ourselves and things we couldn’t bring ourselves to do any other way. For several years I was a member at a local fitness facility… a gym. Come January, the place would be packed, but by mid February, it would be back to normal. So many wanted to be in better shape, and they took the first step in signing up for a gym membership. Yet, when they found out about the work involved in getting into shape, enthusiasm and commitment faded rapidly.
Jacksonville, FL – Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the Clay County School District, demanding it stop interfering with constitutionally protected prayer prior to the start of the school day. For some time, students, some teachers, and community members have voluntarily gathered at the Flagpole at Clay Elementary School to pray prior to the start of the school day. But the district buckled under pressure from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which alleged that the district must stop the prayer. The FFRF demanded that all prayer at the flagpole cease immediately, stating that “it is grossly inappropriate.” In response, Liberty Counsel sent a letter to the district setting forth the law.
The district cannot prohibit constitutionally protected religious speech or prayer during individuals’ free time. The United States Department of Education has issued guidelines addressing constitutionally protected prayer, entitled “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools.” These guidelines state in part:
[As he left public life, George Washington had serious concerns for the country he helped bring into being. He had surprising insights into the situations this new nation would face and (often ignored) advice on avoiding pitfalls that have destroyed other nations in the past. The language is difficult to comprehend at times, but we can learn from his wisdom or we can continue to ignore it at our peril.]
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
[As he left public life, George Washington had serious concerns for the country he helped bring into being. He had surprising insights into the situations this new nation would face and (often ignored) advice on avoiding pitfalls that have destroyed other nations in the past. The language is difficult to comprehend at times, but we can learn from his wisdom or we can continue to ignore it at our peril.]
Friends and Citizens:
The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
[I received this from Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) and this information comes straight from the Armed Services Committee. It is a short piece but it summarizes where our military is today versus twenty years ago. This is important in view of the fact that the big government types are looking to chop even more from the defense budget to keep funds available for all the social and regulatory programs so dear to their heart.]
by Congressman Randy Forbes
Military leaders have described U.S. forces as on the “ragged edge.” What does this mean? Let’s take a look:
The United States has a shrinking force. In 1990, the U.S. had a 546-ship Navy; today we have 288. The U.S. had 76 Army brigades in 1990; today we have 45. Two decades ago, the Air Force had twice as many fighter squadrons and bombers as today.
New York, NY – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to the United Nations as the “theater of the absurd” is an apt description of an organization that was designed to bring peace among nations. The UN has lost its legitimacy in light of recent events.
Rather than entertain a request for statehood of the Palestinian Authority (PA), presented Friday by Mahmoud Abbas, the UN should reject it outright. The PA’s request for statehood includes the Gaza strip, Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank), and the Golan Heights, but the PA does not control the West Bank or the Golan Heights, where hundreds of thousands of Israelis live and where Israel provides security. How can the UN entertain a request for statehood on land not controlled by the entity making the application?
Abbas and the PA sanction terrorism against Jews and refuse to recognize the right of Israel to exist. Like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, Abbas denies the Holocaust. Abbas, using his other name, Abu Mazen, studied at the Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow, where he earned a doctorate degree and wrote a dissertation entitled, “The Other Side: The Secret Relations Between Nazism and the Leadership of the Zionist Movement,” in which he attempted to prove that the Nazi Holocaust of Jews never occurred. As Abbas denies the Holocaust of the Jews, refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and sponsors terrorism against innocent Jews, he is in the same company as Hitler or other leaders of genocide. Read more of this article »
If the folks in Washington have there way, I am about to loose an old childhood friend. Tony the Tiger was not only a grrrreat intermission friend during Saturday morning cartoons – back when they were permitted to actually be funny, but he adorned the package of one of my favorite cereals, Sugar Frosted Flakes. Another of my favorites bore the picture of the small screen version Wild Bill Hickock – that was Sugar Corn Pops. Now both products have faded to Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops to the pleasure of our overseers in the nation’s capitol.
Those over educated imbeciles, appointed by the president have taken there research, and, primarily, their opinions to be the gospel of human survival and are preaching it to all who will listen, and imposing it on those who won’t. It is to those who won’t bow down at the altar of governmental desire that they feel the government’s power is needed to persuade them of the error their ways in the area of dietary righteousness.
Rules are being formulated that will compel companies like Kelloggs, Mars, and even the good old Girl Scouts to fall into line with the edicts from above, or loose the ability to advertise the offending products or promote them in any way. As with much activity from the current regime, they are doing this outside the legislative will of the people, or even congress. Read more of this article »
After the tragic shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords which claimed the lives of several others, including Federal District Judge John Roll, the progressive left screamed for a return to a level of civility. The civility they were demanding was from their opponents apparently, as they made no move in this direction themselves. The fact that Judge Roll was at the center of the Arizona immigration law dispute, and may actually have been the primary target is beside the point when our socialist opponents want to make the most of a crisis or tragedy.
As we moved forward from that calamity in Tuscon, the left kept up their vicious and, largely unfounded, attacks on anyone exhibiting even a minor degree of common sense. During that time the semi-loyal opposition maintained, in general, a more gentlemanly and ladylike demeanor, refusing to call the regime and its’ supporters on the vile and disgusting behavior and speech visible on the nightly news and in the blogosphere.
In some ways it is a credit to these American patriots that they did not stoop to the level of their opponents. Their behavior was usually measured and circumspect. In some ways it makes one wonder if they take the battle to save our republic as seriously and those who stand against our liberties do. As I noted before, their behavior was usually measured and circumspect – except when it came to dealing with opponents from within their own camp. Read more of this article »
Watching Barack Hussein Obama’s press conference this afternoon, I saw him say basically, “We spent the money suckers, now you have to come up with the bucks.” Now those weren’t his exact words, but he was saying “The money has been spent!” Which is partially true. Much has been committed, but not has been spent. He, his gang of thieves, and the previous administration have committed and over committed the taxpayers to all sorts of bills that many of us were adamantly opposed to.
He is acting like there is no changing the commitments, when in reality there is. We are told that there are some discretionary expenses, and entitlements which cannot be touched. Here is where he is wrong! Giveaways were passed and they can be repealed… and they can be adjusted. Progressives act as if one of their foolish expenses, once passed, can never be changed. He and his socialist advisors cannot conceive of putting a stop to such foolish spending as giving our dollars, our borrowed dollars, to countries that hate us. They cannot comprehend cutting off funds for such foolishness as gay film festivals in foreign venues, or hair brained research by the academic community. Once again we are back to the “We spent the money already suckers… now you pay for it!”
He was talking about the so-called August 2 deadline when we will have supposedly reached the point where we cannot pay our bills as a nation. He cannot comprehend, he says, cutting back on any of the commitments of taxpayer dollars that he and his cronies have made. He would rather drive us deeper into debt than take the actions necessary to extract us from the pit of indebtedness. Read more of this article »
[I received this from Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) about the national debt and the debt ceiling strawman the administration has set before us. This type of wisdom is a rarity inside the beltway.]
In the weeks since Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s warning that the U.S. would hit its debt limit of $14.3 trillion by May 16, debate about whether to increase the debt ceiling has exploded.
The most inflammatory rhetoric we’re hearing is the threat that failure to raise the debt limit would automatically cause the U.S. to default on our national debt. This claim, thankfully, is baseless.
Whether or not the debt ceiling is raised, the federal government collects significantly more revenue than it needs to fulfill U.S. debt obligations. According to projections for next year, interest payments on our national debt will represent 6.5% of total federal government expenditures, and tax revenue will cover about 67% of all government spending. Thus, if the debt ceiling is reached, the government will still have ten times as much revenue as it needs to make debt payments. The only way the U.S. will immediately default upon reaching the debt ceiling is if the government actively chooses to do so by not making debt payments. Read more of this article »
Many say that distrust of the government began with Richard Nixon’s version of the imperial presidency. His insecurities got the better of him as he had his minions break into DNC Headquarters on an intelligence gathering mission. When the world found out about the Watergate adventure, he compounded his mistake by building a web of deceit that fed the young leftist chosen inability to “trust anyone over thirty”.
Perhaps those of us who supported President Nixon share some of the blame for not holding him accountable as through his re-election campaign where we all knew about the whole affair, but didn’t care too much as we believed a possibly more honest old school liberal Hubert H. Humphrey would have been a worse choice. Among these supporters, pretty much all was forgiven as the brutal Christmas bombings drove the North Vietnamese to the Paris bargaining table… only to have the wussies at the State Department snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
The irony is that these same people who protested most vociferously are now the puppet masters of the current administration who has raised the art of prevarication to levels rarely seen inside the beltway. While we can’t condone lying to the American people, I find Nixon’s deceitfulness slightly less offensive as he got caught with his hand in the Democrat cookie jar and, he was fighting for his political survival and was not intentionally attempting to damage or destroy our country. Obama, on the other hand has used the duplicitous strategy from day one to conceal his despicable designs from the trusting people who elected him to the country’s highest office. Yet, a lie is a lie is a lie, and all damage the country. Read more of this article »
We see the world we once knew… the safe, secure world where America, with it’s Christian values, stood for truth and justice… slipping away and becoming the very thing we once stood against. We have moved from a society that valued the individual and his contributin to society whose leadership values group think and mindless compliance with the edicts they issue telling us poor misguided souls how we should live.
In addition to the social havoc they have wreaked on our land, they have brought us one fiscal failure after another. More people are out of work. More people have given up trying to find work. And they are just getting started. We Americans are living in a world where many think nothing bad will happen to us – and they are wrong.
For many, the awakening began during the Vietnam War where the politicians threw away the lives of over fifty thousand of our fine young people because they were afraid to defeat the communist dictators. We were once again jarred from our stupor by the September 11 attacks – but it was not long before we were back fighting a mortal enemy by shopping at the malls so the bad guys would not win. A little later, Hurricane Katrina showed us the incompetence at various levels of government who we depend upon to save us from the big bad world. Yet, we still did not learn. Read more of this article »
Some shy away from Rand Paul because traditional Republicans get nervous around people that actually believe something and speak up about it… going after the prevaricating bureaucrats rather than treating them with the deference of fellow club members. To my thinking, even his approach was tepid when measured against the damage done to our country.
Yet Paul is setting the pace as the new legislators move into the seats of power inside the beltway. They have been sent to Washington to rock the boat and turn the government back into an organization working for the people who pay taxes and suffer from excessive and unrestrained regulation and interference. This hearing was one small skirmish in the battle to regain our freedom. Rand Paul cannot this win the battle alone. Read more of this article »
A few days back I watched one of the final launches of the US space shuttle program. Watching the powerful engines fire and the massive ship lift off the launch pad brought back memories of the triumphs and failures of the entire space program. I thought back to the day our seventh grade class filed into the school auditorium to watch Alan Shepard blast into space from Cape Canaveral on the first brief flight of an American into space. We weren’t sure if we were going to witness triumph or tragedy. As we returned to our classes, we were proud to be Americans and, probably, half of us wanted to be astronauts.
Over the years the space program cost the US taxpayers dearly, and paid us back with many technological advances that came from American ingenuity and pride in our country. Our astronauts became heroes to the young and old alike. These were men who tempted death as the explored the final frontier. Many came through unscathed. Some did not and were mourned by the nation who saw them as champions who carried our national prestige and honor into the international arena where we were constantly challenged by the Russian bear.
Although, NASA is a government agency giving government contracts, and, most assuredly, there was the all to common rape of the taxpayer, it gave us all something to make us feel good and proud to be Americans… that is, except for those looking out solely to loot their fellow citizens bank accounts. Read more of this article »
I guess it’s human nature to sit around and complain about how bad things are. It certainly is easier than getting up off the couch and doing something about a problem. It is less risky to fuss and fume than to join the battle. This is why we hear the all-to-common refrain, “somebody ought to do something about…” whatever the problem being discussed is.
How often have each of us seen something going on and commented “why doesn’t somebody say something?” or “why doesn’t somebody do something?” We Americans have become accustomed to letting someone else take care of our problems. That’s why we have the government, some would say, but as Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that workin’ out for you?”
I’m reminded of a routine by the late comedian, Stanley Myron Handelman, where he talked about standing in line at a butcher shop with a lady in front of him who ordered some meat and had someone cut in front of her and take her order. When she tried to get back in line, she was pushed to the ground. Handelman’s resonse: “I was getting madder by the minute”. Read more of this article »
January is often referred to as “Generals Month” since no less than four famous Confederate Generals claimed January as their birth month: James Longstreet (Jan. 8, 1821), Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19, 1807), Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (Jan. 21, 1824), and George Pickett (Jan. 28, 1825). Two of these men, Lee and Jackson, are particularly noteworthy.
Without question, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the greatest military leaders of all time. Even more, many military historians regard the Lee and Jackson tandem as perhaps the greatest battlefield duo in the history of warfare. If Jackson had survived the battle of Chancellorsville, it is very possible that the South would have prevailed at Gettysburg and perhaps would even have won the War Between the States.
In fact, it was Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British armies in the early twentieth century, who said, “In my opinion, Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest natural military geniuses the world ever saw. I will go even further than that–as a campaigner in the field, he never had a superior. In some respects, I doubt whether he ever had an equal.” Read more of this article »
Sometimes the one we are looking for is staring at from the mirror. We are all looking for someone else to lead us out of this mess. Keep in mind that to everyone around us, each of us is someone else. It’s been said that God is no so much interested in ability, but in availability. Ecclesiastes 9:10 tells us, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (NIV)
The new Christine O’Donnell ad running in Delaware is a little different than the type of thing we are accustomed to seeing. It is a peaceful presence in a political world dominated by nasty, negative sounds and images. To be sure, going negative works or it would not be done with such annoying frequency, but not right now.
Ms. O’Donnell is in the midst of a firestorm of hostility, not just from her opponent, but from elements within her own party. The funny thing about her situation is that the more the opposition rants and raves about her imaginary faults, the larger and more loyal her cadre of followers grows. While many of us, myself included, smile every time we see Chris Christie tear the rhetorical heart of some n’er do well progressive, there is a time and place for everything. There certainly will be a time for that in her current campaign, given complete unsuitability for the position of her opponent, Cris Coons.
The press, Coons, who bills himself as “strong, progressive voice for Delaware”, party insiders and even some so-called conservative pundits have tried to label her as a kook, with some flaky ideas and a checkered past. Now just may be the time for some calm, personal assurance the Ms. O’Donnell is, indeed, just like us… disgusted with politics as usual… and wanting to return to the country they knew. Read more of this article »
[The following op-ed by Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) was recently featured in a special defense report in The Hill newspaper.]
Only a weekend after members of Congress returned to their districts for August recess, the fiscal blitzkrieg on our military began. In the Pentagon, a small circle of individuals took the first step in their long-planned strategy. With one hour until the media announcement, after it was already being reported in the news, a perfunctory call was placed to the affected congressional representatives. Sixty minutes later, the Secretary of Defense announced to a waiting press corps his unprecedented plan to shutter one of our nation’s ten military commands. With only his words as justification, he would reverse a 25-year course towards jointness, eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, reprogram millions of defense dollars, and transfer 1.1 million service members to another command.
The terminology is different, but make no mistake, the base realignment and closure process has begun again. The goal of this round of Base Realignment and Closures (BRAC) will be the same: the dismantling and closure of our military installations. But after straining and creaking under the crushing fiscal weight of a two-year social spending binge, the Department of Defense’s process will be far from familiar. Unlike the closure process set forth by statute and envisioned as fair and open, this process will be much different. Members of Congress should be warned that, left unchecked, they can expect a steady tide of security-dismantling moves. The new BRAC will be: Read more of this article »
Ever since God called Abram out of Ur, God’s people have always possessed a “Pilgrim Spirit.” Think of it: Abram was called by God to leave the only country and home he had ever known, his family and friends, and his culture and way of life. To make matters worse, he did not even know where he was going. And, of course, Abraham is known as the “Father of the Faithful.” Virtually all of God’s children since Abraham have possessed an innate pilgrim spirit.
Abraham’s descendants, both physical (Old Testament Jews) and spiritual (New Testament Christians), have all, like their spiritual father, followed the call of God to discover or defend the freedom to walk, work, and worship in the spirit of liberty and truth. In fact, the spirit of liberty and the pilgrim spirit go hand in hand. Think of it: virtually every great freedom movement has been, in large part, born, bred, and brought about by an intrinsic and indefatigable pilgrim spirit.
The pilgrim spirit brought Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt. The pilgrim spirit brought Joshua and God’s children into the Promised Land. The pilgrim spirit moved upon Samson and Gideon to free the Hebrews from their oppressors. The pilgrim spirit empowered young David to face off against the Philistines’ mightiest warrior. The pilgrim spirit motivated the early church to plant themselves throughout Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the Middle East. The pilgrim spirit took God’s people to Europe. That same spirit moved them from country to country, from one end of the European continent to the other. And that same spirit brought America’s Pilgrim forebears to the shores of Virginia and Massachusetts. Read more of this article »
The war for the soul of the Republican Party is heating up. Or, more appropriately, the war to give the Republican Party a soul has skipped a few steps to a new level recently. The actions of a formerly Republican senator and governor made it obvious that the retention of position and power was higher on their agenda than following and actually representing the people.
Perhaps I should not have enjoyed the spectacle of Arlen Specters’ political demise as much as I did, yet the whole sordid drama of a man leaving a party that had been so good to him over the years and still meeting the defeat he had hoped to avoid, renewed my hope that there is still some justice in the world. Now seeing the same drama taking place in Florida gives me even more hope and confidence that the founders “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence” was not faith misplaced.
However, as much as they relied on Divine Providence, they still had to pick up arms and drive the British army from our shores. They did, however, understand that this Divine Providence would ensure their victory, even in their darkest hours. As imperfect humans, they did their best to be sure they were on the side of their creator which gave them the rights they were defending for themselves and their fellow countrymen. Read more of this article »
When my fathers generation, the greatest generation, conquered the Axis powers, there was no question: the only goal was to defeat the enemy. There was no attempt to understand Adolph Hitler or work out an arrangement for coexistence. There was pretty much general agreement that we could and should emerge victorious.
Later, the concept of limited war took hold and our country was content to push the North Koreans back and keep them out of South Korea. We had a similar strategy in Vietnam. In this case, not only did it not work, but our country lost somewhere around fifty eight thousand precious men and women in the process.
Maybe it was guilt that came from using our technological advantage to end World War II with the atomic bomb. This is something that the left still regrets in spite of the fact that many times more Japanese would have died, not to mention American Gis, if they had to bring the war to a conclusion by invading the country. Read more of this article »
In his book, The Good Life, Chuck Colson wrote, “… any breach of integrity pits us against reality, and that’s a war no person has ever won. You can stave off reality only so long before it crushes you, which is what happened to both Nazi Germany and Communist East Germany.” He might have added names like Bernie Madoff, Dennis Kozlowski and Ken Lay. Each one lived in their own fantasy world, surrounded by enablers, hangers on and other manipulators.
Each in his own way thought the normal rules of civility, legality, economics and humanity did not apply to them. Each one, not only destroyed themselves, but they left a trail of devastation and death (some literal and some figurative). This should not be surprising that each came crashing down to earth in a tragic death spiral as Numbers 32:23 tells us “you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”
There is one more name that is on track to be added to the list and he is in the process of pulling us all under in a whirlpool debt and destruction. That name is Barack Hussein Obama. Many people believe he is unique on the scene… and in some ways, he is. On the other hand, he is just one more in a long line of charlatans whose dreams took them far beyond the realm of the possibility and propriety. Read more of this article »
Politicians in Washington, D.C., love to manufacture a crisis. The crisis generates fear within the citizenry, thereby allowing the federal government to centralize more and more power. During a crisis, the citizenry becomes much more forgiving of federal abuses and accommodating of federal encroachments than it otherwise would be without a crisis. Hence, we have a federal “war on drugs,” and a “war on poverty,” and a “war on terror,” and an “oil crisis,” and an “energy crisis,” and a “domestic terrorism crisis,” and an “education crisis,” and a “border crisis,” and an “economic crisis”–Blah! Blah! Blah!
You can mark it down: every major crisis that America has faced over the last several decades has been either manufactured or facilitated by policies and activities originating in Washington, D.C. But at the same time that DC is creating these crises, it categorizes any ideological group it finds distasteful as a convenient scapegoat. These convenient scapegoats can include “angry white guys,” “tea party extremists,” “a vast right-wing conspiracy,” Constitution Party or Libertarian Party “extremists,” “Second Amendment extremists” (gun owners), “pro-life extremists,” ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Yet, while DC’s elitists are plotting America’s next crisis and figuring out whom to categorize as America’s next “extremist,” some real enemies are waging war against the freedoms and liberties of our once-great republic. And, ladies and gentlemen, these enemies are much more subtle, a lot closer, and much more dangerous than almost anything you are being told about. Read more of this article »
[Editors note: From time to time, my friend Nancy Slocum receives these words and passes them on. These would be good to read and heed.]
Definition of prowess:
1. Distinguished bravery, especially military valor and skill
2. Extraordinary ability
Prowess. That is correct. As My children, as you being part of My body – you have extraordinary skill and ability. I need it to rise to the surface so it can be clearly seen around the world in these last days.
As part of My army – My might and My power will be manifested and clearly demonstrated so people will have no confusion or doubt about who is King of Kings and the one and only true Commander in Chief. Read more of this article »
To listen to the anointed Barack Hussein Obama and his excessive use of references to “I” and “me” along with his efforts to “radically transform” the country most of us love, you would think that someone died and left him as boss. He and his cohorts have already begun dismantling the protections we thought our constitution had given us. He believes he is justified as his thoughts must be reflecting the will of the people. The people, as in “We the people”, are telling him his actions and schemes don’t reflect their version of the “public will”. Someone is wrong! Who is really in charge here?
Well, the people are closer to being on target as our founding fathers noted we have been endowed by our creator with certain unalienable rights. These rights are not generated by the people any more than they are generated by our government, as Chuck Schumer would have us believe. They have been given to the people by their creator. In some ways the people have been given the right to rule their land in much the same way European monarchs believed they had been given the “divine right of kings”. Only in this case there is truth to the claim.
Over the years, the people have been foolish and given up the control that was rightfully theirs, much like Esau gave up his inheritance to Jacob. Yet the concept that individual liberty is a gift from our creator has not been lost. The secular statists believe otherwise. They are convinced that the Judeo-Christian values that were the foundation of our country have outlived their usefulness and the people now need the firm hand of a strong centralized government to guide them through one crisis after another generated crisis. Read more of this article »
On this 99th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, little can be said that would improve on the words of the man himself. In listening to his First Inaugural Address, one can only marvel at how far we have fallen. We can only be inspired and increase our determination that the damage to our country will not be permitted to stand and that we will, once again, be worthy of what America once was. We have benefited so greatly from living in this wonderful country. We can do no less than to pass the shining city on a hill to our children and grandchildren.
A lot has already been written about President Obama’s State of the Union message. With all due respect to pundits like Chris Matthews who “forgot he was black for an hour”, how can so much be written and discussed about so little? To be sure, high sounding words poured forth from the ever present teleprompters. Unfortunately, these words failed to combine themselves into coherent sentences that would work for the benefit and safety of the American people.
People are seeing problems like a crumbling economy and near misses in terrorist attacks. They are looking for answers from their leaders, but as Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) noted, “The President had a great opportunity to answer the call. He just missed it.”
Yet even if he said the right words… told us the right things… to many of us it would not have mattered. It would be even harder for him than Arthur Fonzarelli, to say he was wrong. So can we really believe the man? In the past, Joe Wilson was roundly criticized by both parties and the press for stating the obvious. Later is words were vindicated by the President’s own actions. This time around Supreme Court Justice Joseph Alito let the world know, in less audible tones, that the teleprompters words were false. Read more of this article »
As I was growing up, hearing about the speeches and marches of Martin Luther King, much of what I heard was that he was stirring up trouble where he had no business. In the rural northeast there was little knowledge or understanding of the situations he was fighting against. There was only one black student in my high school graduating class and she was kind of cute and fit in with everyone, so I could not comprehend what the fuss was all about.
It was only later, after Dr. King was gone, and I saw grown men with dark skin addressed as “Boy” and saw pictures of segregated facilities that I began to grasp the struggles of freedom fighters like Martin Luther King Jr and others like Medgar Evers.
Our Declaration of Independence enshrined the words “all men are created equal”. Correctly it does not specify all men of a certain color, a particular economic class or those connected to the “ruling class”. It says all men are created equal. It does not say that some are only three fifths equal as some in congress specified so as to obtain congressional representation, yet not recognize the humanity of some citizens. Read more of this article »
New Years Day is a new beginning, an opportunity to start over. It is a chance to draw a line at the end of an old year and start fresh. It’s not that last year’s problems have gone away. We still have Barack Hussein Obama in the White House with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi running congress. The problems they are creating are still with us… but that is all outside of each one of us. The new beginning is within each one of us, if will give it space.
In his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey’s tells us that public victories are invariably preceded by private, internal victories. Before we can change the world around us, we need to overcome ourselves. We need to master our own inertia. That is the bad habits such as television rather than real action, hesitancy to speak up, failure to seek necessary knowledge and the like. Everyone of us who is not pleased with what we accomplished over the past year… whether it be in the personal, business or political sphere is most likely aware of one or more factors holding them back.
This leaves us with two choices: we can just say I am what I am and can’t (or won’t) do any more, or we can work toward fixing the shortcoming. When confronted with this type of situation, all those on the left can do is fix the blame. We were not created that we. We were not created to live as victims, but were placed here to make a difference in the world. To say we can’t change is saying that the redemptive work of Jesus Christ isn’t quite up to the task in our case. I, for one, am not about to tell Him that! Read more of this article »
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[As he left public life, George Washington had serious concerns for the country he helped bring into being. He had surprising insights into the situations this new nation would face and (often ignored) advice on avoiding pitfalls that have destroyed other nations in the past. The language is difficult to comprehend at times, but we can learn from his wisdom or we can continue to ignore it at our peril.]
[As he left public life, George Washington had serious concerns for the country he helped bring into being. He had surprising insights into the situations this new nation would face and (often ignored) advice on avoiding pitfalls that have destroyed other nations in the past. The language is difficult to comprehend at times, but we can learn from his wisdom or we can continue to ignore it at our peril.]
[I received this from Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) and this information comes straight from the Armed Services Committee. It is a short piece but it summarizes where our military is today versus twenty years ago. This is important in view of the fact that the big government types are looking to chop even more from the defense budget to keep funds available for all the social and regulatory programs so dear to their heart.]
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If the folks in Washington have there way, I am about to loose an old childhood friend. Tony the Tiger was not only a grrrreat intermission friend during Saturday morning cartoons – back when they were permitted to actually be funny, but he adorned the package of one of my favorite cereals, Sugar Frosted Flakes. Another of my favorites bore the picture of the small screen version Wild Bill Hickock – that was Sugar Corn Pops. Now both products have faded to Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops to the pleasure of our overseers in the nation’s capitol.
After the tragic shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords which claimed the lives of several others, including Federal District Judge John Roll, the progressive left screamed for a return to a level of civility. The civility they were demanding was from their opponents apparently, as they made no move in this direction themselves. The fact that Judge Roll was at the center of the Arizona immigration law dispute, and may actually have been the primary target is beside the point when our socialist opponents want to make the most of a crisis or tragedy.
Watching Barack Hussein Obama’s press conference this afternoon, I saw him say basically, “We spent the money suckers, now you have to come up with the bucks.” Now those weren’t his exact words, but he was saying “The money has been spent!” Which is partially true. Much has been committed, but not has been spent. He, his gang of thieves, and the previous administration have committed and over committed the taxpayers to all sorts of bills that many of us were adamantly opposed to.
[I received this from Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) about the national debt and the debt ceiling strawman the administration has set before us. This type of wisdom is a rarity inside the beltway.]
Many say that distrust of the government began with Richard Nixon’s version of the imperial presidency. His insecurities got the better of him as he had his minions break into DNC Headquarters on an intelligence gathering mission. When the world found out about the Watergate adventure, he compounded his mistake by building a web of deceit that fed the young leftist chosen inability to “trust anyone over thirty”.
We see the world we once knew… the safe, secure world where America, with it’s Christian values, stood for truth and justice… slipping away and becoming the very thing we once stood against. We have moved from a society that valued the individual and his contributin to society whose leadership values group think and mindless compliance with the edicts they issue telling us poor misguided souls how we should live.
A few days back I watched one of the final launches of the US space shuttle program. Watching the powerful engines fire and the massive ship lift off the launch pad brought back memories of the triumphs and failures of the entire space program. I thought back to the day our seventh grade class filed into the school auditorium to watch Alan Shepard blast into space from Cape Canaveral on the first brief flight of an American into space. We weren’t sure if we were going to witness triumph or tragedy. As we returned to our classes, we were proud to be Americans and, probably, half of us wanted to be astronauts.
I guess it’s human nature to sit around and complain about how bad things are. It certainly is easier than getting up off the couch and doing something about a problem. It is less risky to fuss and fume than to join the battle. This is why we hear the all-to-common refrain, “somebody ought to do something about…” whatever the problem being discussed is.
January is often referred to as “Generals Month” since no less than four famous Confederate Generals claimed January as their birth month: James Longstreet (Jan. 8, 1821), Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19, 1807), Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (Jan. 21, 1824), and George Pickett (Jan. 28, 1825). Two of these men, Lee and Jackson, are particularly noteworthy.
[The following op-ed by Congressman Randy Forbes (VA-4) was recently featured in a special defense report in 
Ever since God called Abram out of Ur, God’s people have always possessed a “Pilgrim Spirit.” Think of it: Abram was called by God to leave the only country and home he had ever known, his family and friends, and his culture and way of life. To make matters worse, he did not even know where he was going. And, of course, Abraham is known as the “Father of the Faithful.” Virtually all of God’s children since Abraham have possessed an innate pilgrim spirit.
The war for the soul of the Republican Party is heating up. Or, more appropriately, the war to give the Republican Party a soul has skipped a few steps to a new level recently. The actions of a formerly Republican senator and governor made it obvious that the retention of position and power was higher on their agenda than following and actually representing the people.
When my fathers generation, the greatest generation, conquered the Axis powers, there was no question: the only goal was to defeat the enemy. There was no attempt to understand Adolph Hitler or work out an arrangement for coexistence. There was pretty much general agreement that we could and should emerge victorious.
In his book, The Good Life, Chuck Colson wrote, “… any breach of integrity pits us against reality, and that’s a war no person has ever won. You can stave off reality only so long before it crushes you, which is what happened to both Nazi Germany and Communist East Germany.” He might have added names like Bernie Madoff, Dennis Kozlowski and Ken Lay. Each one lived in their own fantasy world, surrounded by enablers, hangers on and other manipulators.
Politicians in Washington, D.C., love to manufacture a crisis. The crisis generates fear within the citizenry, thereby allowing the federal government to centralize more and more power. During a crisis, the citizenry becomes much more forgiving of federal abuses and accommodating of federal encroachments than it otherwise would be without a crisis. Hence, we have a federal “war on drugs,” and a “war on poverty,” and a “war on terror,” and an “oil crisis,” and an “energy crisis,” and a “domestic terrorism crisis,” and an “education crisis,” and a “border crisis,” and an “economic crisis”–Blah! Blah! Blah!
To listen to the anointed Barack Hussein Obama and his excessive use of references to “I” and “me” along with his efforts to “radically transform” the country most of us love, you would think that someone died and left him as boss. He and his cohorts have already begun dismantling the protections we thought our constitution had given us. He believes he is justified as his thoughts must be reflecting the will of the people. The people, as in “We the people”, are telling him his actions and schemes don’t reflect their version of the “public will”. Someone is wrong! Who is really in charge here?
New Years Day is a new beginning, an opportunity to start over. It is a chance to draw a line at the end of an old year and start fresh. It’s not that last year’s problems have gone away. We still have Barack Hussein Obama in the White House with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi running congress. The problems they are creating are still with us… but that is all outside of each one of us. The new beginning is within each one of us, if will give it space.
